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History of CryENGINE
Game development
General information about the engine
The game engine "CryENGINE" was developed by the German studio "Crytek" and was first released in May 2002. The engine is currently at version 5.7. Initially, it was planned as a technical demo for "Nvidia," but it evolved into a completely standalone engine. It allows for the development of games for platforms such as Windows, Linux, iOS, Wii U, PlayStation (3 and 4), and Xbox (360 and One). The programming is based on C, C++, and Lua. Since mid-2011, a free version of the "CryENGINE" has been available for download on the official website, following a "pay what you want" model. Even those who do not pay get full access to the tools and source code. However, since March 2018, 5% of the revenue generated by the game must be paid to "Crytek."
From demo to engine
The first game developed with the "CryENGINE" was "Far Cry," released in 2004. "Far Cry" represents a graphical milestone in the history of video games, particularly due to its realistic depiction of water, high visibility, and depth of field for its time. This was achieved through features like "Bump Mapping," "Pixel Shaders," and "Vertex Shaders." Additionally, "High Dynamic Range Rendering" was possible with the engine.
CryEngine 2
The "CryENGINE 2" was released in November 2007 along with the game "Crysis." Highlights of this version include detailed facial rendering, realistic plant movements, and volumetric clouds. Furthermore, "DirectX 10" was supported. "Crysis" stood out due to these features, offering impressive graphical quality that pushed the limits of the hardware generation at the time.
CryEngine 3
Just two years later, the third generation of the engine, the "CryENGINE 3," was introduced at GDC. With this version, "Crytek" also took its first steps into the console market. Thanks to support for "DirectX 11" and "AMD Mantle," the main focus of the engine continued to be on the graphical quality of games. However, this does not mean that it is not possible to develop compelling content-driven games with the "CryENGINE."
CryEngine
Diese im August 2013 erschienene Version der “CryENGINE” besitzt keine offizielle Nummerierung. Innerhalb von “Crytek” besaß sie jedoch die Versionsbezeichnung 3.6.0. Ab Version 3.8.1 unterstützt die Engine “OpenGL” als Grafikschnittstelle.
CryEngine V
The latest generation of the engine, the “CryENGINE V”, was released on March 16, 2016. The innovations include native virtual reality support as well as support for “DirectX 12” and “Vulkan”.
You can find out more about virtual reality in the article “What is VR”.
Conclusion
The “CryENGINE” is one of the most famous game engines today. With its functions, it laid a graphical foundation for modern computer games such as “Far Cry” or “Crysis”. The free licensing of the engine for all creators is particularly positive.
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